


To Dismiss Ghosts In The Daylight

by Tht0neGal666



Series: Haunt The Lonely [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Academy Era, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Canonical Character Death, Creepy Shimura Danzou, ESPer Haruno Sakura, Evil Shimura Danzou, Gen, Haruno Sakura Sees Ghosts, Kid Haruno Sakura, POV Haruno Sakura, Pre-Canon, Trust Issues, and shes RIGHT lmao, protective inner sakura, sakura st8 up goes 'ur alive?? and talking to me?? suspisious..., shisui being an asshole offscreen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27973211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tht0neGal666/pseuds/Tht0neGal666
Summary: It's a blatant waste of talent, the Academy turning you down for something so inconsequential. They've grown over cautious with early graduations, ever since the Uchiha Massacre. That wasn't your fault, though, was it? you shouldn't be the one bearing the consequences." he sighed sympathetically.She nodded, wiping at her face again. "Yeah. 'S not fair." She pouted, looking at the man cautiously. He seemed...kind. Old. Wise. He reminded her of the Hokage- he had a kind of face that was easy to trust because he always did what was best. Someone burdened by guilt, but with a will of fire determined to keep going. He looked creepy, wrapped in bandages, and there was an army of specters piled behind him, but that could be said for most good shinobi.Inner didn't trust him though. Inner was usually right.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Inner Haruno Sakura, Haruno Sakura & Shimura Danzou
Series: Haunt The Lonely [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1355656
Comments: 10
Kudos: 136





	To Dismiss Ghosts In The Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> it's been for-fucking ever but! I still love my little darling <3 how are y'all doing?

**OFFER**

"Haruno-chan." Someone suddenly rasped, and she was very proud that she did not jump. She had been trying so hard to get better about concealing reactions to random voices, considering that so often they're voices that only she can hear. Instead she whipped the tears from her face and brushed off her dress as she turned to face it, always willing to at least offer an ear to the dead.

When she turned around and saw the man behind her and was met with a solid person that the light didn't shine through, however, she couldn't quite stop herself from startling. This man was old, covered in bandages, and most importantly, _she couldn't see through him_. 

She was more then used to dead strangers approaching her, but she rarely talked to the living outside of her home or school life. She had _never_ been approached like this before by a solid person. She didn't like it. 

Inner didn't trust

"Um. Can I help you, sir?" She asked shyly, face still puffy from almost-crying, and quickly heating up as she realized how she must look. He smiled gently and kneeled beside her. she nervously picked at the grass she was sitting in, looking around for a clue to what was going on. Several ghosts were following him- the _angrier_ ones, the ones even she rarely tried to talk too. The ones that sometimes kept her up at night, whispering gory demands into her ears until Inner scared them off. 

Specters, Rin had called them. _Nightmarers_ , Inner had suggested, but Sakura stuck to the former, because the later was _rude_. 

She almost whimpered at the sight of them, but instead focused on the man himself. Giving them attention usually just drew un due attention to _her-_ and anyways, He looked familiar, somehow. Was he important?

"Perhaps. I hear you've made another attempt to apply for your gennin exams, yes?" he asked, and she sniffed again and pulled grass from the dirt a bit forcefully.

"Yes, sir." She whispers, instead of screaming or crying or ignoring him, because Kaa-san always insisted on respect for her elders. She had tried to apply again just earlier today, for the second time in two years, and Shisui had once again gathered a small army of ghosts with moral objections to early graduations. Once again, she failed to completely ignore them, and failed her psych exam. Once again, she was ready to _kick Shisui's butt_ , so he laughed nervously and said he'd go get Nee-san to make her feel better. He'd been gone for several minutes. he should be back soon.

She hoped this man was gone by then. If anyone else called her delusional or crazy today, she might start crying _for real._

"And you failed, on the grounds of a faulty mental state." He continued, heedless of her sneer at the words. "You have an inability to focus or take anything seriously, and have yet to grow out of imaginary friends that you've had for as long as either of your parents can remember." He said, as if she didn't know all of that. As if she hadn't heard it playing on loop in her head, intertwined with curses on Shisui, for nearly an hour now.

Hearing them again made her want to scream in this man's face that she wasn't _crazy_ , that she was _right._ She dreamed about proving it, sometimes. Telling that condesending ass Mizsuki-sensei that Tsubaki-san was standing right behind him, glaring a hole through his head muttering about Orochimaru. Mock-innocently asking Mizuki-sensei why Tsubaki-san looked with pitying eyes at Naruto, when everyone else glared and Mizuki-sensei told them too.

Or any number of other things, really. Talking about Kushina-nee. doing a Hatake Clan kata that Sakumo-jiji taught her. Signing in the ANBU sign Shisui would teach her in exchange for favours. Revealing she knew Kakashi-nii was an ANBU Captain.

it would be so _easy_ for all the ridicule to stop, to be made indispensable to the village, to be useful. She could find enemy shinobi driven half mad by lonliness, and easily make them tell her their story just because they want to be _heard_. No one would call her crazy again, and all she needed were the words 'Naruto is the Yondaime's son' or 'Biwako-sama said that Hokage-sama snores like a bear'. 

Sometimes, she felt as invisible and voiceless as the listless ghosts that walked the street. It made her want to _scream_.

But, one of the first things Rin-nee did after meeting Sakura was sit her down, look her in the eye, stroke her hair, and spend _hours_ going into how dangerous it would be for anyone to find out. Telling horror stories of children with absent parents and special talents that get taken by powerful shinobi, even within their own village. Stories that kept her up late, almost sobbing in terror, and swearing to Rin-nee that she wouldn't tell _anyone_ she could see the dead until she could protect herself.

So, rather than confessing to _everything_ , she just nods again and repeats herself woodenly. "Yes, sir."

"However, barring that, you've shown a near-genius intellect, and gennin level physical skills. You can preform the Academy Three." He remarks, and she preens. It isn't, quite, but it almost sounds like praise. "It's a blatant waste of talent, the Academy turning you down for something so inconsequential. They've grown over cautious with early graduations, ever since the Uchiha Massacre. That wasn't your fault, though, was it? you shouldn't be the one bearing the consequences." he sighed sympathetically. 

She nodded, wiping at her face again. "Yeah. 'S not fair." She pouted, looking at the man cautiously. He seemed...kind. Old. Wise. He reminded her of the Hokage- he had a kind of face that was easy to trust because he always did what was best. Someone burdened by guilt, but with a will of fire determined to keep going. He looked creepy, wrapped in bandages, and there was an army of specters piled behind him, but that could be said for most good shinobi. 

Inner didn't trust him though. Inner was usually right. 

"It isn't fair, no. I do hope this won't disuade you from becoming a Shinobi- we need Kunoichi like you in the forces." He claimed, and then he turned to her and smiled. It reminded her of her the Hokage's portrait Kaa-san hung in the living room. "In fact, If you wanted I could train you." He offered, and she wrinkled her nose and eyed his bandaged arm doubtfully.

"Um. With all do respect, sir..." She started, trying to _find_ a respectful way to phrase it, "You look like...you should be focusing on yourself, for now." She landed on. The man closed his eyes and chuckled, and she blushed. 

"Oh, Haruno-chan," He grinned, "Don't worry about me. Just because I'm not in shape to spar with you does not mean I cannot instruct you. I know I may not seem it, but I have been considered for Hokage several times. I am more then capable of cultivating the talent of a young blossom such as yourself." He promised, and she gave him a considering look.

Inner didn't trust him, so Sakura didn't really either, but- did she really need to trust him, to learn from him? If he was telling the truth, then it seemed like an opportunity she couldn't afford to pass up.

Besides, it was possible that Inner was wrong. Maybe the man really was harmless, a washed up S-rank shinobi that wants to pass on his legacy. As someone who mingled with ghosts, Sakura could more then understand how important that was to many powerful ninja.

 ** _if you get a proper, living, SHINOBI_ _sensei,_ **Inner hissed, apparently opting to change tactics when their general disapproval was dismissed, **_then you're_** _ **bound** **to slip up eventually** **, right? you couldn't even make it through the Academy Exam, how would you make it through training with an elite?**_

She could _manage_ though, she argued to herself. If that jerk Shisui didn't go _out of his way_ to make her slip up, if she really had to, she could control herself. Right? Probably?

 ** _Maybe. It's risky. It's too risky._** Inner manifested, standing by the kind old man and looking him over with a scowl. Sakura, to prove a point, didn't look at them. **_He's obviously powerful. Look at all his Nightmareers._**

Getting good ninja training from a real ninja would be worth the risk anyway, though. She was young, and she didn't know much at all yet, but she knew that she had to be strong. She was going to be a _shinobi._ Shisui, and Rin-nee, and Sakumo-oji, and a million of her other friends were shinobi, powerful shinobi at that, and they were dead. Shinobi, no matter who they were, died all the time. It was something she'd had to accept _years_ ago.

Sakura couldn't afford to die, though; not when she was the only chance her friends had at eternal peace. If she wanted to look after her precious people- and her precious people's precious people- she had to be living, and she had to be _strong._ How could she turn down an offer to make her stronger?

 ** _You can't afford to go missing, either._ **Inner scolded, probably glaring at her. Sakura wouldn't know. She still wasn't looking, eyes resting thoughtfully on a tree to appear like she was just considering his offer. _**Remember Rin-nee's warning, dummy.**_

Very carefully, she didn't flinch at the reminder. As if she could forget.

"Haruno-chan?" The man prodded. Sakura blinked hard and snapped her eyes back to him, idly wondering how long she had been debating his offer. "What do you say?" 

Sakura frowned. "Can I...have some time to think about it?" She requested, because this obviously wasn't going to be an easy decision. Her head already hurt, both from the sabatoge of her test earlier that day and arguing with Inner right now. 

"What is there to think about?" The old man asked. "Do you doubt my ability to follow through?"

"No." She shook her head, cause that was about the only thing her and Inner agreed on right now. No matter how he looks, this guy is _strong._

_**....why does he have so many Uchiha Nightmarers? He's a Konoha nin.** _

"Then why the hesitation?"

"I don't know you, Shinobi-san. No offence, but I'm not gonna let a _stranger_ train me. What kind of Shinobi would I be, if I trusted you just like that?"

The man made a strange expression, something like an extremely annoyed grin, and Sakura shifted on her feet. 

"A fair point. Perhaps I should introduce myself. In fact, I apologize for neglecting to do so; it was very rude of me, when I knew who you are from the start." He nodded his apology. "I am Councilman Shimura Danzo, one of the Hokage's closest friends. Surely you can trust the Hokage's friend, Haruno-chan."

Sakura gave a thoughtful frown, looking into the distance again, though this time her gaze fell specifically over his shoulder to the crowd behind him.

The thing about Specters was that appearances were...touch and go. Depending on how long they had been specters or how completely they've been taken over by hatred (or both?), they barely even looked human- in fact, the only way Sakura had been able to figure out how old the Specters were was by their limbs; the way they would sometimes turn out strangely contorted, or misaligned, or unproportional, or just missing- as if the Specter, in all their time wasting away in ravenous hatred, had forgotten what they looked like in life. Lost themselves to time and undying, unkillable hatred.

Specters rarely if ever exhibited colors. Before Rin-nee told her they were Specters, Sakura had called them _Shadows,_ and the description was apt. Their appearances ranged from ghoulish, monochrome and sickly versions of actual ghosts, to being little more then a semi-transparent sillouette with a mouth and eyes. Ghosts came in all sorts of colors, but Specters were shades of grey and black or, occasionally, a soft pastel, looking overwashed and doomed to fade into yet another grey with time. 

(Sakura didn't believe in a hell, specifically because she couldn't imagine a worse state of existence then being a Spectre.)

The specters directly behind Shimura-san, though, the ones Inner was studying, had vibrant eyes the color of _blood._ She was expecting to look and dismiss Inner's claim- it was nearly impossible to identify a Specter, after all- but instead she found herself unable to deny it, and trying very hard to keep her expression still as her brain raced.

"A friend of the Hokage?" She asked, trying to put more interest into the question then she felt. Inner sensed her distress and regressed back into Sakura's head, doing their best to hoard Sakura's horror and anger and the pesky observant parts of her brain putting things together right in front of the man. 

Danzo. Hadn't...Shisui

**_mentioned him? Yes. Probably. We think so. Whatever, just get him away. Officially not worth it, right?_ **

It was hard not to physically nod her head in agreement.

"A very close friend of the Hokage." He chuckled, and it should have been a kind, grandfatherly sound, but it was more akin to a kunai against gravel. "Why, Hiruzen and I met when we were gennin. Our teams ran missions during the Second Shinobi war."

Sakura nodded, pretended to think for another second as she pulled herself together, and then sighed and shook her head.

"Mm..I'm sorry, Councilman Shimura-san, but I...I think I've gotta deny your generous offer." She said, as respectful as would be expected of a civilian child. She bowed, half out of respect and half to avoid looking at him anymore. They could be wrong. He _could_ just be an old shinobi looking for a legacy.

**_We could be right too, though. One of his eyes is bandaged. Could that be-_ **

She felt like she was going to throw up.

"Oh?" Is all he says, so quiet she barely hears.

"Y-Yeah. Um. I just- I really do apreciate the offer, Shimura-san, I promise, but my parents would worry. They barely want me enrolled in the first place, if they heard I was being trained by such an esteemed Shinobi, they might just pull me out of the Academy." She fretted, only kind of lying. Her parents were opposed to her career path, and an offer like this _would_ freak them out, but only if they heard about it. If she really wanted to accept, it'd be easy to get away with.

But that didn't matter, because she was going _straight home_ and telling her parents all about it. She probably wouldn't get dinner, or maybe breakfast, because she ran off and talked to a strange and powerful Shinobi, but she couldn't find herself to be anything but impossibly relived that they happened to be home. She had to sneak out that morning to go take the Gennin pre-exam, and the plan had been to become a Gennin and therefor a legal adult today so she they couldn't punish her or anything.

Sakura grimanced, and accepted the fact that she probably wouldn't eat much at all until they left again, but the relief didn't lessen. 

"Is that all?" He asked, shaking his head with a small smile. "How noble of you, to put your parent's concern above your own. do not fret, Haruno-chan; I'm sure I could...convince them of my proposals merit."

She scrunched her eyebrows for a second trying to figure out what he said, and then a few more seconds trying to figure out what he meant, because she didn't trust the way he said it.

Did he mean he'd pay them off? Or..

**_Dumbass. He can't kill them; they're high profile. For civilians, at least- remember, that's what Shisui said? You aren't THAT special, killing Otou-san and Kaa-san would be more trouble then you're worth._ **

Hopefully. _Hopefully_ that was the case. How could they be sure?

**_MAKE it be the case. Play every inch the boring civilian girl, right? Give him what he expects. This is, like, the one thing you're good for on your own._ **

"Oh, I don't know Shimura-san...my parents are impossible to argue with! Kaa-chan makes me eat veggies, even when she's _not home!"_ She griped, blinking away her nerves and pouting. 'Sides, I like training alone better anyway! It's how I do my best work."

The councilman frowned again, but maybe it was a thoughtful-frown instead of an angry-frown. 

He didn't say anything for a long time. She started to shift from one foot to another nervously, and didn't even have to fake it. Just as she was considering making her excuses and running home- it was almost sunset, afterall- She heard a shout that had her stiffening up and Danzo, darn him, eyeing her sudden reaction curiously.

"Oh _shit,_ Sakura!" A familiar voice hissed, and, _oh,_ had she ever heard him angry before? "Get _away_ from that bastard." He warned- severval minutes too late to be helpful, mind you- and stood between her and the councilman. As if he could do _anything._

 **Jerk.** Inner grumbled, already gnashing her teeth at the incoming headache. **_He said he'd be back nearly an hour ago, along with-_**

"Sakura-chan?" another, less unwelcome voice called, horror lining her voice.

 _Ok. We can still salvage this. Just..wrap up quick._ Inner proposed, lying through their teeth.

Inner rammed her head against the metaphorical wall of Sakura's skull, and she didn't even begrudge them that. This just went from _bad_ to _complicated._

**Author's Note:**

> god.....I was so close to having her in ROOT....u don't even know. Not for long, just long enough to meet some ghosts ^-^ and I tried, SO hard in case u couldn't tell from the text, but I literally could NOT find a way to justify it. Also this isn't, like, an angsty series lmao so the tone just didn't fit. she is Not out of the woods yet lmao so don't get too comfy. Next chapter is Shisui's perspective, because Shisui angst doesn't count as real angst cause he's a little shit that lowkey deserves it. 
> 
> Love you guys, happy 2020 (its been a fuck of a year huh?) and tentetively expect more from this series for a bit! I have...some ideas.
> 
> that reminds me; if you guys have any ideas for ghosts she can meet- esp minor characters that most people don't really care about- drop them in the comments!! I love giving Sakura dear more ghost friends ^-^ Or if you have ideas or questions in general lmao I love talking about this series lots. Till next time!!


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